First Moon Mosaic 26.06.10

[Digz]

Taken with Skywatcher 250p DS, D200 at prime focus with 2x barlow. ISO 400 shutter speed 1/200th. 10 frames stitched together in CS4.

Not the sharpest of shot due to mirror slap, but unfortunately when at prime focus I cannot activate MLU.

Still Im pleased with my first attempt.

[Digz]

Anyone have any comments / critique / advice???

[ashenlight]

This is an excellent first attempt, Digz! There is a lot of contrast between different areas - lovely! As you say, it's not as sharp as it could be, but it's still beautiful! How about trying for some half moon shots, or thin crescents? Have you tried those before?

[resonator77]

I did not quite understand, is this prime focus with DSLR?

you mentioned x2 barlow as well

for starters it is very good outcome

[Digz]

Hi guys, appreciate the feedback.

@Amanda - I have taken a crescent shot but not a mosaic - I will certainly try this when the time comes.

@Resonator - apologies, this was taken at prime focus and to achieve this with my DSLR I need to use my 2x Barlow. I did try my MPCC but still could not achieve prime focus (plus I was fiddling about with the MPCC at night not having read any instructions on the various spacers etc )

[resonator77]

with 250p you can get the whole moon on the DSLR chip. I think you would get better result if you have used single shot at prime focus (no barlow) say ISO 400 or 800. Many quality images appeared recently with single shot of the moon, just need to focus carefully. If you take 10 to 20 shots and focus before every shot you will hit the sweet spot.

[Digz]

Hi resonator, thanks for the suggestions.

A couple of questions though

Without a barlow I cannot achieve prime focus so I presumably will need to use some sort of extension tubing?

When you say take 10-20 shots and focus, is it then the idea to combine these shots as with DSO AP or is it the idea to start at a focus point and adjust slightly with each shot?

I dont think focus is an issue as the moon looks crisp in the view finder (I cant remember if my AF indicator confirms this or not, Ill pay more attention next time. But I will try the above for definate.

Many thanks for the advice

[resonator77]

View finder can be misleading often, that is why if you focus every time before releasing shutter one of your 20 images should be better than the rest.

also you can stack all 20 images with Registax, but I think well focused single shot can be better than stacked images from DSLR.

[Digz]

excellent, thanks for the clarification